Page 91 of Death Wish

“You can’t just shoot me. I’m too important to go missing. People will notice and ask questions.”

“Get real. All I have to do is tell people we fired you for embezzling company funds. No one will question your absence. They’ll all be relieved to not have the microscope turned on them.”

“Take him,” Boudreax said to Grant. “You know what to do. Make sure it’s done right.”

“Yep. My pleasure. Let’s go, Daley. You cause me trouble, and I’ll shoot you where you stand and haul your body out of here.” Grant shoved him into motion and propelled him from the lab.

“You’re next, Porterfield.” Boudreax aimed his weapon at Jesse.

Ice water ran through Simone’s veins. She couldn’t let Boudreax kill Jesse. “You want me to work for you, Ms. Westlake?”

“I think we can make a lot of money together.”

“I’ll work for you on one condition.”

Sophie’s eyes narrowed. “What condition?”

“Jesse remains unharmed.”

“You, I need. Jesse, I don’t.”

“I love him. If you want me, I get Jesse alive and unharmed.”

“And if I refuse?”

She tapped a few keys on the keyboard, and the program disappeared. “No Jesse, no program.”

Boudreax clubbed Jesse on the back of the head with the butt of his pistol and shoved him to his knees. He grabbed a fistful of hair and jerked Jesse’s head back, shoving the barrel of his pistol against Jesse’s temple. “You sure you want to play hardball with us?”

He jammed the barrel harder against Jesse’s temple. Blood trickled down his cheek. “We don’t need her or Jesse, baby. The job’s finished. We’ll find a replacement for Simone. She’s already been more trouble than she’s worth.”

“You have nothing without me,” Simone warned.

“What does that mean?”

“I saved the program in my cloud. Only I can retrieve it. You’ll never break the code in time to meet your buyer’s deadline.”

Sophie studied her a moment before shifting her attention to Jesse. “He means that much to you, Simone?”

“I love him.”

“There’s no ring on your finger.”

“Jesse has had a ring for months. I’ve been leading him on a merry dance while he tries to convince me to marry him.” Simone frowned. “You’re messing with my plan, Sophie.”

The other woman’s mouth curved. “Sorry about that.” She leaned back against the computer console. “We have a bit of a problem here, Simone.”

More than one. “What’s that?”

“We don’t need your boyfriend. In fact, he’s a security risk.”

“He would do nothing to cause me harm.”

“See, that’s where I have a problem. I met a friend of yours a few days ago.”

Uh oh. “What friend?”

“Trevor White.”

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